Thomas Alfred Magnant

Thomas Alfred Magnant, age 70, died Thursday afternoon October 22, 2009 at home surrounded by his family after a year-long struggle with esophageal cancer.
Tom was born to Gwendolyn (Guthrie) and Leon Magnant on November 2, 1938 in Franklin, VT in the farmhouse where he grew up. He graduated from Franklin High School in 1956. On August 8, 1959 Tom married Nancy Beth Stanley.
Tom was a farmer on a family farm. He enjoyed animals and their unique personalities, he was fascinated by machines, he loved the land, hard work brought satisfaction, challenges were faced, and problems were to be solved. Tom worked the farm, first with his father and his brothers, later worked it with Nancy and their children, ultimately partnering with his son Tim. Lastly, he introduced his grandchildren to farm life in Franklin by including them in farm chores and 4-wheeler rides to check the land and the crops.
He loved people and that was reflected in all aspects of his life. In his teen years, Tom began work on his fathers milk route hauling cans to the creamery in Enosburg Falls. He enjoyed talking with the farmers and fellow milk haulers and reaped a wealth of knowledge from those conversations. He and Nancy bought his parents farm in 1963. Always conservative, always progressive, two of his main philosophies of farming were to buy only what you can pay for, but to be successful you had to keep up with modern agriculture, as much as finances would allow.
Tom enjoyed serving the town of Franklin as an auditor, justice of the peace, and trustee of the Haston Library Fund. He also served the Missisquoi Valley Union High School community as school board director and chairman.
He was honored to serve as a director on the board of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, also serving as Co-op Treasurer and chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition he served on many other boards, including the Vermont Beef Industry Council, Vermont Dairy Promotion Council, Green Mountain Dairy Farmers Cooperative Federation, and Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project, Inc. He also testified before the US Senate Agriculture Committee in Washington on behalf of the St. Albans Co-op, the Vermont House Agriculture Committee in Montpelier on dairy issues and the Northeast Dairy Compact Commission. Throughout all his years of service he dedicated himself to the job at hand, but always valued the good people he met.
Tom leaves his children and their spouses, Jane and her husband Robert Lynds of Barre MA, Rebecca and her husband Darryl Fleury of Derry NH, Timothy and his wife Martha (Parent) Magnant, and Peter and his wife Lisa (Langolf) Magnant of Franklin. He leaves his eight adoring grandchildren Sarah and Brian Lynds, Matthew and Daniel Fleury, Danielle and Desiree Magnant, Mikaela and Benjamin Magnant, each of whom brought him great pride and joy. Few things gave him greater pleasure than playing cards with his grandchildren, be it Go Fish or 500. He also leaves three brothers, Claude and his wife Aline (Rainville) Magnant, Bradley Magnant, and David and his wife Joan (Duffy) Magnant, his sister-in-law Therese (Coutu) Magnant, and his sister-in-law Phyllis (Stanley) and her husband James Wright. He was predeceased by his parents, his father-in-law and mother-in-law Robert and Dorothy (Walsh) Stanley, a brother Leon Royce Magnant, sister-in-law Marilyn (Hubbard) Magnant, brother-in-law and sister-in-law Gary and Sheila (Columb) Stanley.
Through his final illness Tom was sustained by the love of his family and friends through many visits, cards and phone calls. We want to thank Dr. Nunnink and his staff at Vermont Center for Cancer Medicine, Dr. Daniel Fram, Dr. Amy Roberts, Dr. Joseph Winget, Franklin County Home Health Hospice nurses Terri Pourier and Kimberley Volk, and Hospice caregiver Jeanette Bosley for their kind, compassionate care that enabled him to live out his life with grace and dignity.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 11:00 at the Franklin United Church with Pastor Jason McConnell officiating. Interment will follow at St. Marys Cemetery in Franklin. Friends are invited to call at the Spears Funeral Home in Enosburg Falls on Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 PM.
Should friends desire , gifts in Toms memory may be made to the Haston Library Fund in care of Kimberly Gates Maynard, PO Box 82, Franklin, VT 05457 or Franklin County Home Health Hospice 3 Home Health Circle, St. Albans, VT 05478.
Private email condolences may be sent to Toms family through www.spearsfuneralhome.com.